Dear Supporters, 

What would you do if you are suddenly arrested by the police or called for questioning / thrown into remand? Know and protect your rights.

https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/into-the-lions-den-one-year-on-tickets-503547081877

"I was arrested on the 21st of January. On the first night of the arrest, the police officer shouted at me in a threatening voice "I'm going to charge you tomorrow!"

I asked him, "Aren't you going to investigate me?" He said, "Investigate you later!" Excerpts from Into the Lion's Den, by Iris Koh.

Prior to starting Healing the Divide, never in my wildest dream would I imagine that I would ever be arrested or put on remand for 15 days. After all, I have been a law-abiding citizen all my life. I prided myself on being a God-fearing Christian who would not even lie to anyone. I have been a music teacher/entrepreneur. I was even given an award by President Nathan himself for my contribution to the launch of President's Challenge when I was in my early thirties, amongst other scholarships and awards throughout my school years. I have worked with kids, youths, the underprivileged and did a lot of community work in churches and within the arts community. I was also the organizer for the Vienna Boys Choir in Singapore and Bangkok and rubbed shoulders with diplomats, celebrities and the rich and famous in society.

So what changed? Well, COVID came and along with it, the vaccines and the vaccine passports.

I experienced 3 deaths close to me by July 2021 and an alarm bell went off inside me and I knew I could not stay silent anymore. I cried myself to sleep for 2 weeks every single night after I wrote the petition, "Do not let vaccination status divide us" which went viral and was signed by more than 16,000 people to date. Something was not quite right in Singapore and I felt a looming darkness over my beloved country.

While I'm in the process of writing my book, "Into the Lion's Den", this talk will not delve into the details of my remand. I would like to speak however on your legal rights and how to handle police investigations and treatment if you ever find yourselves in the unfortunate situation of being arrested or being in remand, from the perspective of the “accused”.

I would be inviting my husband Raymond Ng to speak on the topic. He is not a lawyer, but a businessman/management consultant. As a result of his field of work in government grants and innovative business models, he has been exposed to police and some government agency's investigations. Before I married him, he was also called upon as a Defendant witness in a criminal matter which he would share more of during this event. I thank him for sharing his experiences with me in the course of our marriage and I believe it was his experiences which prepared me for the 15 days while I was in remand. 

I also thank Almighty God and everyone who prayed very hard for me while I was in the 15 days inside the Lion’s Den. It was seriously a hellish experience. I know that without having faith that God will eventually put things right, I would easily have lost my sanity, my courage and my hope.

Iris Koh. 

Some of the questions we will address in this talk:

1. Can the police ask you for identification on the streets for no reason (to you)?

2. Can an innocent person be arrested?

3. Can you reject cooperating with the police officer?

4. What kind of questions can the police ask you during a police investigation?

5. What can you do if a police officer mishandles the investigation (inducement during interview)?

6. Can you see your lawyers during your investigation?

7. What are your rights during a police investigation?

8. Do you have the right to silence?

9. Do you need to provide evidence that would incriminate you?

10. What do you answer when you are being asked of a question that would incriminate you?

https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/into-the-lions-den-one-year-on-tickets-503547081877

How are the speakers qualified?

Mr. Raymond Ng, has been involved with management consulting, capital structuring, tax incentives application, and had more than 3,000 over clients at the peak of his consulting career.

As a result of his work, he has assisted in numerous investigation requests concerning his SME clients from MAS, IRAS, SPRING Singapore, Singapore Police Force (Commercial Affairs Department), Ministry of Manpower. Some of his clients have been charged and convicted in Court because they did not follow the advice of Mr Raymond Ng.

In some of the investigation requests, the subject of investigation is himself. However, Mr. Raymond Ng till this date, has never been charged in the Court of Law before (there are small cases, which he has been called to the Court because he had been late in submitting taxes and some admin matters, but these are small matters).

In the most recent episode concerning VendShare, he was the person who designed the business model behind an innovative vending machine franchise system. He was the subject of in his view false police reports which caused him to be arrested and remanded for 15 hours.

He remains to this date, uncharged, although his passport has been impounded.

As he is currently suing Rice Media for defaming him and the matter is currently in the court of law, we will not comment further on this. As such, his experience with the law extends to handling defamation lawsuits as a plaintiff.

Mr Raymond Ng is different from lawyers because most lawyers have not been arrested or remanded before. Thus, a lawyer's advice remains largely theoretical and academic and not useful. In the meantime, during your investigation and remand, you cannot talk to or see your lawyers at all, so you must rely on your common sense and the knowledge you build up by attending talks like this.

Ironically, a lawyer may NOT be the most useful in telling you how to deal with a sudden police investigation as he/she would lack the personal experience of having to deal with one.

The second speaker for the event is Iris Koh herself. Having gone through 15 days in remand, she will share how you could protect your own rights when dealing with the police and how not to be frightened or intimidated when giving statements and how not to crumble under pressure.

You won't hear theories or textbook answers during this talk. What you will get are war scars earned through blood, sweat and tears and the information that could prevent you from going to jail if you are innocent.

It is also Iris' wish that she will eventually start The School of Social Justice and invite other experts to teach ordinary citizens about our constitutional rights and how to keep our government officers in check so they do not abuse their powers. We believe that when citizens are empowered with legal knowledge, we are in a better position to protect our own rights and stand up for ourselves in a world that wants us to "own nothing and be happy."

This event is dedicated to all Singaporeans, past and present who have stood up to say something for the common folk and were subjected to all kinds of ridicule and unfair and inhumane actions by the authorities and fake media.

I hope that the knowledge you will learn in this talk will empower you to do the right thing and give you the courage to do what you can do legally without fear, to speak up for yourselves, for your children, your neighbours and fellow citizens as well as to build a better and fairer Singapore for all. Despite the misconception that you have to be a politician before you should speak up, you don't have to wait because Singapore belongs to all of us and we all have a right to create the Singapore that we want to live in and be proud to call home.

Ownership comes from having a say in designing the future that we want. It is a job much too important to leave it only to the politicians. This country needs you, whoever you are, however lowly anyone has made you feel, this is our home. This is where we belong. I leave you with the pledge of Singapore.

We, the citizens of Singapore,

pledge ourselves as one united people,

regardless of race, language or religion,

to build a democratic society

based on justice and equality

so as to achieve happiness, prosperity

and progress for our nation.